A Cake For All Seasons

Moms 1-2-3-4 cake is truly a cake for all seasons. Made with ingredients that can be found all year. The secret ingredient, though, is love. Whenever this cake was made, the house was filled with an unmistakably delicious aroma. Mom made this cake often, and usually for no special occasion, although she made it countless times for friends, family members and whenever we traveled. It also showed up on the table at many repasts celebrating the lives of people we knew and cared about.

She made this cake from memory and it took me many years to write down the "recipe" taking great care to measure the ingredients so I could recreate it. My sister likes to add lemon or almond extract to the batter. I much prefer to make it like Mom with vanilla extract.

Mom made this cake using a stand Sunbeam mixer which she proudly earned by redeeming S&H green stamps. Susan and I would painstakingly paste all the stamps (which were thrown haphazardly in the kitchen junk drawer after shopping trips) in the little pamphlets using a damp sponge. We’d usually do on Sunday afternoons on a corner of the dining room table while Mom read the newspaper.

Even without an icing, this cake is a keeper. I'd catch my Dad slivering off small pieces to enjoy while he was gardening or doing chores around the house. He left telltale crumbs, so we knew it was him. Didn't matter. He really enjoyed Moms cake.

Many years ago I wrote down the recipe (after watching Mom make this MANY times and typed it up using a Selectric typewriter. This is what I use when making the cake.

If you happen to make this cake, I hope you'll enjoy it just as much as my family.